PREP VOLLEYBALL ROUNDUP : Slow-Starting Laguna Beach Runs Down Woodbridge

As usual, the Laguna Beach boys’ volleyball team spun its wheels early in Wednesday night’s match against Woodbridge High School.

But this time, the Artists weren’t blown away.

Dain Blanton had 28 kills to lead the Artists, ranked fourth in Orange County, past No. 3 Woodbridge, 12-15, 15-5, 15-9, 15-10, in a Pacific Coast League game at the Laguna Beach gym.

“We’re only running on about three cylinders,” said Blanton, a 6-foot-5 outside hitter. “We still have a long way to go.”

Laguna Beach (7-3) avenged a four-game loss to Woodbridge and moved into a first-place tie in the league standings with the Warriors at 5-1. Woodbridge is 8-1 overall.

The Artists trailed early in each game against Woodbridge. Laguna Beach Coach Lance Stewart said it was a typical start for the Artists.

“We have a tendency to be a little slow out the gate,” he said. “We can’t keep doing that or teams will start slamming the door in your face.”

That happened to the Artists early in the season. With four starters out because of the basketball season, the volleyball team started 0-2.

Blanton, Josh Borella, Brady Butcher and John Trevino were busy playing in the state basketball tournament and didn’t arrive until the second week of volleyball season.

“We were only running on about one cylinder earlier in the year,” Stewart said. “Now I’d say we’re running on two.”

Blanton and Borella both had their games in high gear. Borella, a 6-1 junior, started for the first time this season and finished with 21 kills.

“We wanted to wait until Josh was ready from basketball,” Stewart said. “He was definitely an influence out there. Now we have four good attackers.”

Woodbridge Coach Steve Stratos said his team didn’t play well.

“Laguna Beach wanted it more than we did,” he said. “That was very obvious. They outplayed us in every aspect of the game. And I thought Blanton showed a lot of leadership.”

Blanton had 10 kills, including six aces, in the second game as Laguna Beach erased a 3-0 deficit. Borella added seven kills and four aces.

“Dain kept the pressure on them,” Stewart said. “He played smart.”

Blanton and Borella continued to pound Woodbridge in the third and fourth games, as Laguna Beach rallied from deficits of 2-1 and 4-1.

In the fourth game, the Artists capitalized on six Woodbridge errors in a 9-1 run. Woodbridge trailed, 10-5, but used two Laguna Beach errors and a kill by Scott Seymour to pull within 10-8. Seymour led Woodbridge with 18 kills.

Laguna Beach ended the match when two Woodbridge hitting errors and an ace serve by Sean Baldwin keyed a 5-2 run.

Stewart said he was pleased with the victory.

“It wasn’t as important to win as to play well,” he said. “We’ve got some big games coming up in the future (Huntington Beach, Corona del Mar and Woodbridge again) so we need to be playing well.”

In another Pacific Coast League match:

Trabuco Hills 3, Laguna Hills 0--Greg Stone and Peter Burke each had 16 kills to lead Trabuco Hills (7-6, 3-3) to a 15-11, 15-4, 15-9, victory at Laguna Hills, which is 3-3 in league.

In the Sunset League:

Huntington Beach 3, Ocean View 1--Middle blocker Kyle Crabb had eight kills and outside hitter Steve Lucas had 12 kills to lead second-ranked Huntington Beach (6-1, 2-1) to a 15-11, 9-15, 15-4, 15-10 victory on road against eighth-ranked Ocean View (7-4, 2-1).

Edison 3, Marina 0--Karl Van Reusen had 11 kills and Steve Snyder had 10 to lead visiting Edison to a 15-7, 18-16, 15-8 victory.

In the Garden Grove League:

Rancho Alamitos 3, Bolsa Grande 0--Richard Pearce had 15 kills and five blocks to lead host Rancho Alamitos (7-6, 6-1) to a 15-7, 15-6, 15-8 victory. Bolsa Grande is 3-9, 1-6.

La Quinta 3, Garden Grove 0--Senior outside hitter Tom Green had 22 kills and senior setter Chris Doherty had 17 to lead host La Quinta (8-1, 7-0) to a 15-8, 15-6, 12-15, 15-9 victory. Garden Grove is 4-3 in league.

Pacifica 3, Kennedy 0--Senior setter Eric Cadacio had 24 assists and senior outside hitter Kevin Williams had 11 kills to lead Pacifica (4-6, 4-3) to a 15-1, 15-4, 15-8 victory at Kennedy (0-7).